New Spaceways Comic Annual
Encyclopedia
Published by London's Boardman Books
Boardman Books
Founded by Thomas Volney Boardman in the 1930s, T.V. Boardman, Ltd. , was but one of many London publishing houses turning out both paperback and hardcover books, pulp magazines, and comics. Boardman Books is best known for publishing the long-running monthly series of hardcover Bloodhound...
under their Popular Press imprint. Book is about 10.75 x 7.75 inches. Hardcover, printed boards, 158 pages. Contents are a combination of comic book and illustrated text stories. Illustrated in four color and black and white. Denis McLoughlin
Denis McLoughlin
Denis McLoughlin was a well-known British illustrator.After a career that touched eight decades, British illustrator Denis McLoughlin gained a degree of long overdue recognition in the late-1990s for his hard-boiled detective illustrations that graced book covers produced primarily for the London...
, creative director for the series, based most of the spacemen, rockets, flying saucers, space creatures, robots, etc. on the toys then carried by Woolworth
Woolworths Group
Woolworths Group plc was a listed British company that owned the high-street retail chain, Woolworths, as well as other brands such as the entertainment distributor Entertainment UK and book and resource distributor Bertram Books...
's. Woolworth's were the primary distributor of the Boardman annuals in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and all over the former British Empire. Some of the Pyro/Kleeware
Kleeware
Kleeware is a brand of plastic toy developed and marketed by the company O & M Kleeman in the 1950s in the UK. The range of toys was extensive and included soldiers, boats, cars, model houses and dolls....
/Tudor Rose toys used as models for this annual include: X-300 Space Cruiser (silver - top front cover); X-300 Space Cruiser (landed - front cover foreground); Johillco Spacemen (front cover); and Tudor Rose Space Clipper (front cover bottom left inset).
- The comic contents include three British original stories by Denis McLoughlinDenis McLoughlinDenis McLoughlin was a well-known British illustrator.After a career that touched eight decades, British illustrator Denis McLoughlin gained a degree of long overdue recognition in the late-1990s for his hard-boiled detective illustrations that graced book covers produced primarily for the London...
and a third by an unknown artist. One McLoughlin story features hard boiled detective Roy Carson while the other has science fiction hero Swift MorganSwift MorganSwift Morgan was a British science fiction hero created in 1948 by Denis McLoughlin and his brother Colin and first published by Boardman Books in their series of rotogravure comic books . Swift, with his plucky girl companion Silver, faced all manner of fantastic adventures from other worldly to...
. The story Swift Morgan and the Flying Saucers is a reprint from 1949. As such, it is a very early UFO story. The other comic content is reprinted (in color and black and white) from U.S. Quality Comics Group. Comic content includes:- Zip O'Daly Rocket Ship Pilot (British original?)
- Swift Morgan and the Flying Saucers by Denis McLoughlin
- Eric Falcon - The Surrender of Eric Falcon
- Chop Chop by Matt Baker
- Plastic ManPlastic ManPlastic Man is a fictional comic-book superhero originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Cole, he first appeared in Police Comics #1 ....
- Grandma Crookes by Jack ColeJack Cole (artist)Jack Ralph Cole was an American comic book artist and Playboy magazine cartoonist best known for creating the comedic superhero Plastic Man.... - The Whip - Crimson Vengeance (origin) by Reed CrandallReed CrandallReed Crandall was an American illustrator and penciller of comic books and magazines. He was best known for the Quality Comics character Blackhawk and for stories in the critically acclaimed EC Comics of the 1950s.Crandall was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2009.-Early...
- Doll ManDoll ManNote: This article is about the Quality Comics character. For the Full Moon Features film Dollman, see Dollman . For the article on the movie's titular character, please see Brick Bardo....
- The Full Moon Monster - Corsair Queen - King of Corpse Cay
- Swift Morgan and the Ancient Egyptians by Denis McLoughlin
- Roy Carson Strikes Again by Denis McLoughlin
- Arizona Raines Water Hogs Die Broke might be by Matt Baker
Sources
- Gore, Matthew H. Collector's Corner: Denis McLoughlin, Goldenage Treasury Volume One. AC Comics: Longwood, Florida, 2003. Unpaginated.
- Hertzberg, Francis. Denis McLoughlin: The Master of Light & Shade. Gryphon Books: Brooklyn, New York, 1995.
- Holland, Steve. The Lancashire Cowboy and the Bloodhound: The Art of Denis McLoughlin, Paperback Parade, #24 (June, 1991), 60-62.
- Holland, Steve. The Mushroom Jungle. Zeon Books: Dilton Marsh, England, 1993.
- Lesser, Thomas M. The Boardman Hardcovers, Paperback Parade, #38 (April, 1994), 21-44.
- Young, S. Mark, Steve Quinn, and Mike Richardson. Blast Off: Rockets, Robots, Ray Guns and Rarities from the Golden Age of Space Toys. Dark Horse Books: Milwaukie, Oregon, 2001.